Have you considered police checkpoints?

Y

yacoub

Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
137
Just thought about how any man-made large-scale disaster would likely lead to a massive effort by local, state and federal officials to check vehicles and possbily even delay and search people who are simply trying to leave the area.

For those of us without motorcycles, bicycles (or the necessary high endurace to go long distances on them), or other alternative means of transportation, this should be a very real matter to consider.

Aside from additional gasoline for your vehicle, and perhaps checking that your firearms are unloaded and secure (the last thing you want is to be arrested by some overzealous cop, aka insult to injury, in the midst of such a situation), is there any other input worth noting regarding roadblock checkpoints that would certainly be set up on highways and likely all main roads?

Any of you living within an hour of the DC metro area might remember how when the Malvo sniper drama was unfolding a few years ago, everytime there was a new shooting, police materialized to set up road blocks on almost literally every main road in the metro area.
I remember one night I was driving home from a friend's house and in the middle of nowhere, I come around a bend in a road there was a roadblock checkpoint with three cop cars, officers with flashlights stopping each car to talk with the driver, etc. Certainly there's a small amount of comfort in their ability to do that in that sort of situation, but in other situations such as a disaster, such roadblocks would be a massive impediment to traffic flow, but yet likely to be there just the same.

Thoughts for avoiding being stuck in a long line of cars waiting to (hopefully just) get waved through? There's nothing like unexpected delays to eat up valuable time you hoped would put a good distance between you and the area you're leaving in order to hopefully beat the main rush of folks leaving.

I just started watching a video on Google Video called Police State 2000 by some guy named Alex Jones, 10 minutes into which he is talking about unlawful checkpoint searches. That's what made me think to ask this question.
 
thank god I live in the country. I will just travel cross country. I own dirtbikes, atv's and 2 feet so I will be ok. Plus I know almost all the local law enforcement in my county. I also can use the fire dept. as an excuse to avoid most of there nonsense. Just dont pust yourself in there path. Think of it from a drunk drivers perspective who is trying to avoid the cops or the trucker avoiding the scale stations. It would also be a good idea to invest in a detailed map so you can use alleys and dirt roads to you advantage to avoid le. You will have to avoid them if you plan on being armed unless they accept my ccl.
 
Be the grey man. If you evacuation from a disaster area and your in your como vehicle with your tac vest and ammo cans all over your vehicle you can pretty much count on attracting attention of LE. Low profile is always the best approach. No NRA, this vehicle insured by (your favorite firearm company), etc... stickers. Better to have a save the whales and protect bambi sticker. Look and act like sheeple. Don't attract attention to yourself. Just my .02.
 
i dont know the legalities of checkpoint searches. but i do know that after the hurricane in new orleans, a lot of displace people went to houston. the local pd ran everyone who got off the bus, and hooked a bunch of knuckleheads with felony warrants.

no government is going to want new felons to add to their existing stock, even if they are displaced by a natural disaster.

that said, i think low profile is the best advice. being visibly armed will violate laws almost wherever you go.
 
Great post.

I agree that low profile is best. I was once detained at the CA border when I crossed with an old plastic pistol case (cheapo kind with egg carton foam inside). I was using it to put my small digital camera, tripod and memory cards in. They saw the case and immediately thought they had me. I think I would have been in the clear after they had opened it except for the fact that it still had the imprint of my HK 40 compact in the foam. I spent the next 4 hours being questioned while my car was completely torn apart looking for a pistol that was at home some 1200 miles away.

Bottom line, sew your BOB into a large teddy bear
 
my guess is if they're blocking off all the roads and there's a lot of traffic, they're just doing the typical "slow down, look at you and visual glance around the interior of your car, wave you through" unless they spot something they find suspicious with their visual inspection through your window.

hopefully a backpack (BOB) isn't suspicious, especially in a situation where people are loading up their cars with stuff and fleeing/leaving an area. =P
 
Hello all...Roadblocks are bad for everyone. They are not set in place to assist the public in apprehending any one person as they are for harassing the general public & conditioning citizens to accept these invasive methods. You cannot trust what any police locale will do & in catastrophic events it is ALWAYS severely invasive. I have a motorcycle for manuverability & great gas mileage...It can also be hidden in brush if i wish to stop & backpack it. I suggest you get a topo map of your particular area & study all secondary roads including gravel & dirt. Remember that when the big boom comes down that there will be a media blackout. Do not trust anyone linked with the government.
 
Being in the People's Republic of Raider Fans and Ego fed Police I fully intend to follow the look sheeple, keep the pump under the seat school of thought. Come to think of it I have a Support the San Bernardino County Sherrifs sticker somewhere, I think that goes in my BOB next.
 
Sgt. Art said:
Be the grey man. If you evacuation from a disaster area and your in your como vehicle with your tac vest and ammo cans all over your vehicle you can pretty much count on attracting attention of LE. Low profile is always the best approach. No NRA, this vehicle insured by (your favorite firearm company), etc... stickers. Better to have a save the whales and protect bambi sticker. Look and act like sheeple. Don't attract attention to yourself. Just my .02.
Click to expand...

Definatly the way to go. Be the everyman sheeple in appearence. Keep all weapons out of sight, and don't wear the tactical stuff. A Toyota Corolla with a guy and his family dressed well will make it through a check point way better than a guy in black fatigues in a 4X4 jacked up truck dressed out of the "Concrete Commando Guide". Whats in the duffle bags in the truck is none of thier buisness.
 
Tiros said:
I was once detained at the CA border when I crossed with an old plastic pistol case (cheapo kind with egg carton foam inside). I was using it to put my small digital camera, tripod and memory cards in. They saw the case and immediately thought they had me.
Click to expand...

This does not make any sense to me. CA = California or Canada? Crossing into Canada is another matter? I had problems going into Canada once at Sault St.Marie MI. Humorus in hindsight, but a bit of an inconvenience. The old questions... do you own firearms? Do you own a handgun? Do you have a firearm with you? You see, I-75 is a major drug trafficing corridor. What is your business in Canada? How long you staying?
 
This is one of those things that are hard to know how to prepare for, the one thing I have done is my BOB in my car is nothing to attract to much attention. I live near a large university, so my BOB in my car is just a good quality typical college type backpack in red. No camo or military looking stuff.
 
Just a couple of things to think about. First if things are that bad that large numbers of people are leaving an area so will the cops. some will stay and work but those with families are going to be occupied just like when katrina hit. You had no one there until the feds and other help came in and when they did they were concerned with getting in to help, not with who was comming out. The ones that stay are going to have more important thing to do than screw with you for no good reason. That could change if what people were running from was say plague or other biological agent that could be spread and they wanted to stop it.
Second remember that sheeple are going to viewed as prey. Stay low key if you like but don't look like food. Try to look like the sheeple dog not a sheeple. The predators will be looking for easy prey.
 
My Blue Lights and rescue plates Mark me as a good guy, I Hope. I have freinds who drove inty NYC through a "closed" Tunnel after 911 by either flashing a badge or having the right markings on their vehicles.

these markings may also mean you have to help out if there is an accident/ fire etc. but I probably would have offered anyway.
 
EmsRescueGuy said:
My Blue Lights and rescue plates Mark me as a good guy, I Hope. I have freinds who drove inty NYC through a "closed" Tunnel after 911 by either flashing a badge or having the right markings on their vehicles.

these markings may also mean you have to help out if there is an accident/ fire etc. but I probably would have offered anyway.
Click to expand...
my lights and decals along with a badge and id can get you in some interesting places. Nice to see fellow fd/ems personnel here.:D
 
I would say get a topo map of your area and study, but also get out walk it or drive it. The map may not illustrate the reality of that road or path.

In 2005 I made a cross-country road trip from New York to Arizona. I did not carry, and the next thing I did was scrape my local gun club sticker off the back window. Going through too many states, I didn't want the local LEOs getting an excuse to take my truck apart. Everything inside was very civilian looking.

Crossing the American-Canadian border can be strange at times. We've gone through with blackpowder muskets and cannon with no problem. However, if they find you have a 20 year old DWI on your record, you will be stopped and probably spend some hours talking to them about it and not allowed into Canada.
 
Rupestris, What if the emergency is in February? Awful cold and windy for water travel up there on the lakes?
Ashtx, on 9-11 they yanked all air traffic out of the sky.

I'm not trying to give either of you a hard time, but we all need to realize that there is not one single answer. I'm an advocate of flexibility, and ability to change direction and mode of transportation should you be forced to flee.

A traffic jam is a traffic jam. Whether it be due to road blocks or whatever. In a large scale emergency with people fleeing, roadblocks or not, there will be massive traffic jams. Wrecked cars, out of gas, flat tires, mechanical failures, etc.

But, in terms of looking normal and acting normal, YES, this is the way to go. Don't have loaded firearms and come up on any local, state, or federal checkpoint. You are looking for trouble.

Large amounts of ammo will certainly attract attention should they randomly search your vehicle. "Tactical" equipment might raise an eyebrow, maybe not so much as a point of suspicion, but perhaps viewed as a "prize" or a "spoil of war" by not-so-honest officials.

I would only do something like this during an all out SHTF disaster, but, there are ways to avoid the general scrutiny of a roadblock. Take ammo for instance. Pack 2,000 rounds of .223 into water proof containers, tupperwear, whatever. Place in the bottom of a cooler. then place a sheet of plastic over that, fill top portion with ice, sodas, and bottled water.

If you have a wife and kids, you can get away with just about anything.
If you are a single male, in his 20s or 30s, with long hair, wearing camos, with "tactical" gear in the back seat, you are likely to be detained for a search.

Also, after being in the third world a time or two, I visualize North America becoming somewhat like the third world during a massive disaster scenario. Money talks. Bribery & Extortion are openly practiced by officials as well as civilians during "hard times". Police and other law enforcement are busy with more serious things. If it takes a crisp $20 to get through some roadblock set-up by Barney-Fife who is trying to make a few extra bucks by exploiting the situation, you have to assess the best way to deal with it.
Challenge them in a self-righteous yuppie-like way, or simply give him a $20 and be on your way. There is nothing wrong with paying extortion money in a SHTF sitaution if it gets you to your goal, it's a means to an end.

Be ready for any and all contingencies. Keep your goal clearly in mind and make the decisions that keep you moving in the right direction. Above all, be very, very flexible.
Be the Ball.
 
yacoub said:
Just thought about how any man-made large-scale disaster would likely lead to a massive effort by local, state and federal officials to check vehicles and possbily even delay and search people who are simply trying to leave the area.
Click to expand...
Why? Any experience with roadblocks in the aftermath of any disaster? Raodblocks when they were looking for the DC Sniper or sobrity checkpoints on New Years Eve hardly seem like examples.

Brother Skunk's observations seem more apt - dealing with the traffic jam of all time. But I have already admitted that I am not a fan of doomer porn. Just too many books in the 50's, then 60's, then 70's, then 80's, THEN 90's all predicting a "police state"; not to mention Y2K. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top